ENCOUNTER

ENCOUNTER was a research project founded by the European Community’s seventh framework programme and focused on increasing urban security through improved procedures for dealing with homemade bombs (Improvised Explosive Device, IED).

The threat from homemade bombs is not new, but the international development in this area the last couple of years has made the threat more severe and evident.

ENCOUNTER technologies aims to help police force agencies to react more efficiently to explosive devices, to facilitate the emergence of a common European approach.

The project dealt both with neutralisation (to disable the bomb) and mitigation techniques (to reduce the effects of the bomb). ENCOUNTER explored both existing and developed new techniques for both neutralisation and mitigation. The techniques was summarised in a recommendsvp-1ation matrix for the clearing forces to help them chose the right technique for a certain bomb scenario.

ENCOUNTER considered the ethical, societal and financial aspects of new ways to dealing with bombs to ensure the response is in proportion to the threats, and that the response does not create any additional problems. Providing guidelines for the stakeholders for evaluating and improving acceptance of counter IED techniques.

ENCOUNTER was a project funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme, Grant Agreement No. 285505.